The abject failure of European governments to open safe and legal routes to refugees fleeing war, drought and violence is putting women and girls at increased risk of harrowing abuses. And yet despite the challenges, these women are finding the strength to speak out. GLOBALGIRL MEDIA GREECE is a multimedia, interactive storytelling and leadership training project that celebrates and champions the voice of female refugees and migrants living in Athens, Greece.
Women and girls make up about a third of the 70,000 refugees seeking asylum in Greece. With borders closed and camps filled to the breaking point, migrant minors, especially girls are struggling to find education, safe shelter, healthcare and their own voice in a sea of failed policy, broken promises and overwhelming demands made on them to "integrate" into Greek society. GlobalGirl Media's methodologies put young women at the center of their story, providing the tools to advocate for change.
If we can significantly reduce and mitigate refugee girls' risks (i.e. trafficking, victimization, gender based violence, lack of access to education), by giving girl's viable tools to talk openly and effectively about their lives, we can enable them to become powerful generators of both social and economic value, contributing directly to their integration process in Greece and improving their lives.
The main goal of the project is to look at how art and activism from young, potential female migrant leaders are helping to reshape the refugee crisis, addressing the very real challenges facing migrant women. There are too few news stories that are focused on this next stage of the refugee's journey, that of integration and citizenship. Our long term goal is to establish a Women's Media Center where we can continue to train, introduce other technologies such as VR and coding, and provide jobs.
This project has provided additional documentation in a XLSX file (projdoc.xlsx).
